Basic skills

What we do is analyze genetic data, so we need to be proficient at wrangling data and computers. The main general-purpose tool I use is "the command line":

My number-one recommendation for newcomers to our group is to learn some command-line.

This is a good tutorial (it says you need Linux, but should work on a Mac terminal): https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/command-line-for-beginners

This is good and extensive: https://linuxcommand.org/

My tips:

• Keyboard shortcuts

• Using less to look at files

• Using ssh to access remote computers

You need to find your balance between learning this stuff, versus doing interesting science. The ideal is to be so proficient at the command line that you hardly think about it, and spend nearly all your thought on interesting scientific questions. Also, you can't become very good at command-line just by reading about it, you have to learn by doing.